Versioning a Lifecycle Model

You can create a new version of a lifecycle model by using the Create New Version action in the Lifecycle Models page. You can access this page only if you have the Manage Lifecycle Models permission for a particular organization in CentraSite.

If you need to make changes to a lifecycle model after the model has been activated (that is, after you place it in the Productive state), you must either create a new version of the existing model or replace the existing model with a completely new model. You cannot modify a lifecycle model directly after it has been activated.

The easiest way to apply changes to a lifecycle model is to generate a new version of the model. This task involves the following basic steps:

1. Creating a new version of the model. During this step, CentraSite creates an exact copy of the existing lifecycle model.

2. Updating the new version of the lifecycle model as necessary (for example, adjusting its state permissions, inserting additional states, removing states, modifying transition paths, applying it to additional object types).

3. Activating the new version. This step automatically activates the new version and retires the old version.

When you activate a new version of a lifecycle, instances of assets that were created under the old lifecycle model will automatically switch to the new lifecycle model if they are in a state that exists in the new model. Otherwise, they will continue to follow the old lifecycle model until they are switched to a state that exists in both models. At that point, they will switch to the new lifecycle model.

You can also apply changes to a lifecycle by defining an entirely new lifecycle model. To put the new model into effect, you must retire the existing model and then activate the new model. When you change a lifecycle this way, the objects that were created using the old model will complete their lifecycles under the old model. Objects that are created after the new model is activated will follow the new model.

The following general guidelines apply when versioning a lifecycle model:

You can only create a new version from the latest version of a lifecycle model. For example, if a lifecycle model already has versions 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, CentraSite allows you to create a new version of the lifecycle model from version 3.0. It makes no difference whether the lifecycle model that you are versioning is active or inactive. You can version a lifecycle model in either mode.

When a lifecycle model is in the Productive or Retired state, you cannot change the state of the current version of the model back to New; in this case, you can only reach the New state by creating a new version of the lifecycle model.

CentraSite automatically establishes a relationship between the new version of the lifecycle model and the previous version. This relationship enables several capabilities and features in CentraSite that relate to versioned lifecycle models.

2. Right-click a lifecycle model for which you want to create a new version, and click Create new version.

When you create a new version, it is not yet activated. The lifecycle state of the new version is New, and the lifecycle version of the previously used version is still Productive.

4. In the Edit Lifecycle Model page, change values of the attributes in the respective data fields as required.

This automatically changes the state of the previously used version from Productive to Retired.

All existing assets of the asset types that use this lifecycle model are automatically set for use with the new version.

When you change a lifecycle model that is already in use, you must ensure that all of the states that were in use in the old model are also available in the new model. If the old state model contains states that no asset instance is currently using, these states do not need to be present in the new model. The state transitions in the new model do not depend on the state transitions in the old model; you can define the state transitions in the new model as you please.